20 Minute Workouts

In my last post, I talked about finding time to workout... You can still get something in even if you only have 20 minutes. Today, I thought I’d continue on that theme. So what exactly can you do in 20 minutes?

If we divide an hour workout into 3 sections - upper body, lower body (legs) and core - we can mix and match our workouts creating 20, 40 and 60 minute workouts based on our available time. So you found twenty minutes in your day, what now? Here are two examples of 20 minute workouts:

Beginning

1 (legs): plie or sumo squats, step back lunges and heel lifts

2 (upper-body): chest press, bent-over row and biceps to overhead press to triceps to side raise combo

3 (core): ball crunches, ball bridges, planks and side planks

Intermediate

1 (leg emphasis with core and upper body): 2 sets hack squats, 2 sets squat with overhead press, 3 sets step-back lunges with biceps curls

2 (core emphasis with upper body): chest press on the ball, planks with shoulder rotation, 4 direction diagonals on the ball or bosu

3 (upper body with core): ball push-ups to knees to chest planks, standing cable rows with a 1 leg squat , TYI’s on the ball alternating with back extensions, planks with alternate arm and leg extensions

As always, ensure that you are getting enough recovery time. You should have 48 hours rest between working the same muscle groups. Generally you should not work upper body on Monday and then repeat it on Tuesday. Instead take 20 minutes to do cardiovascular exercise on Tuesday. Do things such as swimming, running, yoga, hiking, biking.

As you progress, increase your intensity by combining exercises. You can also piggy-back exercises by working the antagonist (opposite) muscle groups during your rest period between sets. Both ways you cover more ground in a limited amount of time and burn more calories.

Now that you’ve seen that you can get a workout in 20 minutes, you have no excuses. Get out there!